What is HIIT?

It involves alternating between very intense spurts of action and a more leisurely pace during exercise.

Can it really slow down ageing?

Well, it won’t freeze you in time. More precisely, the team have found that HIIT helps to rejuvenate protein-building factories in our cells, known as ribosomes, and boosts the energy-producing capacity of our cells’ powerhouses, known as mitochondria. As we get older, the ability of our mitochondria to generate energy dwindles. This study suggests HIIT can help to reverse the age-related changes seen in mitochondria. (sources)

High intensity interval training and aging

High intensity interval training, as it is known, works better than longer cycling sessions and weightlifting to halt the damage to the cells’ ‘batteries’ which may kickstart the ageing process. Fixing defects in the DNA of these batteries, the mitochondria, is believed to help people live longer before falling ill with diseases of old age like heart failure and cancer. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota found short bursts of exercise improve fitness, cut body fat and can ward off diabetes, as well as tackling cell ageing. They signed up 72 men and women aged 18 to 30 and 65 to 80 for high-intensity training, resistance training using weights, and combined training with longer bouts of cycling and fewer weights sessions. In good news for time-poor office workers, senior author Dr Sreekumaran Nair, concluded the short bursts were the best. He said: ‘Based on everything we know, there’s no substitute for these exercise programs when it comes to delaying the aging process. These things we are seeing cannot be done by any medicine.’ High intensity interval training works to burn more fat by producing ‘excess post-oxygen consumption’. Four minutes cycling at close to maximum effort, before collapsing red-faced on the handlebars, leaves someone’s resting metabolic rate elevated for longer after exercise. (Source):

In another study The study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, found that younger people participating in HIIT showed a 49 percent increase in mitochondrial capacity while an older group saw 69 percent. (Mitochondria are the cells’ powerhouses, responsible for producing the molecule that transports chemical energy within cells.) Not surprisingly, the researchers found that strength training was most effective for building muscle mass and for improving strength — important because both qualities decline with age — but the group that participated in HIIT earned the best results at the cellular level. HIIT seemed to reverse the age-related decline in both mitochondrial function and muscle-building proteins. So, how should you plan for your exercise week? “If people have to pick one exercise,” Nair said, “I would recommend high-intensity interval training, but I think it would be more beneficial if they could do three to four days of interval training and then a couple of days of strength training.” (Source)

Interval trainers also saw surges in lung, heart and circulation health. The amount of oxygen they could inhale and consume at full tilt rose by 28 per cent in the younger group and by 17 per cent in the older group. There was no corresponding change among weight trainers, although combination training boosted oxygen consumption by 21 per cent among older exercisers. Nair says the greatest benefit from weight training was the addition of new muscle mass, but it triggered none of the mitochondrial and respiratory benefits. The combination regime generally produced intermediate results.

Journal reference: Cell Metabolism, DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2017.02.009

Exercise And Ageing, Exercise Is The Key To Keep Your Body Young

Ageing is a natural part of life. Face it. As soon as you hit your twenties, you notice changes in your body that are clear signs of ageing. However, people age differently and you want to be one of those people who looks and feels younger than they actually are. You want to be as healthy and strong as you possibly can be so you can still enjoy life even in your later years.

Let’s take a look at how exercise can help you keep your body young.

As you get older, your heart muscle becomes less efficient. It works harder to pump the same amount of blood to your organs. Blood vessels also tend to lose their elasticity and hardened fatty deposits may make the supply of blood even harder. This can be avoided by eating a healthy diet with limited saturated fats, a lot of lean protein and vegetables. Consistent daily exercise will also go a long way in delaying the onset of such problems.

One of the features of a young body is its ability to move fluidly. As you age, your bones decrease in size and density. It is even said that you lose a total of 2 inches as you grow older. Less dense bones make them prone to fracture. Muscles, joints and tendons also generally lose strength and flexibility as you get older. When you regularly exercise, your body gets used to physical activity and tries to keep up. Include weight training in your exercise regiment to keep your bones strong and your joints fluid. Proper diet will also go a long way to helping with this.

Exercise the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Exercise causes a beneficial response in the brain and an increase of BDFN, which is a trophic factor which is linked to cognitive improvement and the alleviation of anxiety and depression. The levels of this protein have been found to increase after exercise. You may already have experienced this before when in an anxious state. Exercise seems to alleviate the anxiety and make you have clearer thoughts. As you get older, your mental sharpness decreases slowly. You can delay this through regular exercise from a young age.

As you get older, maintaining a healthy weight or losing weight becomes even more difficult. Given that most people tend to go into a sedentary lifestyle as they age, it may seem almost impossible. Your metabolism also slows down, meaning that you burn fewer calories. The best remedy for this is maintaining a consistent workout schedule consisting of strength and cardio workouts at least 3 times a week. This ill help you increase your ratio of lean muscle to fat. Being overweight naturally, makes you look and feel older than you actually are. You may feel like you are hurling around a heavy body everywhere you go.

Exercise and nutrition go hand in hand when considering slowing down the ageing process. One cannot do without the other.

If you want to avoid aging as much as you can, consider reading more about what you can eat to help you along the exercise and make exercise even more effective.

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